Simon J Green

I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at birth, after a blocked bowel that had me rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Since then, I have had seven operations on lots of hospital stays and plenty of classic illness stories about near-death, friends who passed away, and the mental grind of a chronic disease. A life expectancy of 20 was the biggest influence of cystic fibrosis.

I turned that into an internal drive to get as much done as possible. I blistered through high school and university with laser focus on the arts and, ultimately, film and TV. By 30, I had been an owner of four media companies, produced hundreds of hours of video content for some of the largest companies and agencies in the world and travelled the country crewing on TV series starring some of today’s favourite personalities. Post 30, medicine and technology have advanced, and with this, I believed that I’ll likely live into old age.

That mental shift has been a challenge in itself, with depression and anxiety playing a supporting role throughout the years, but the upshot has been a personal mission to encourage bravery in the worlds I am a part of. My business vision is for an Australian film, TV & video industry that’s globally focussed and commercially sustainable. I personally hope is to influence business and its people towards more open structures for women and people with a disability. Able-bodied white men have had their time.